“Huk.”

 At that moment, Aer couldn’t come to her senses due to the strange sensation. She felt dizzy as if energy was being automatically drained from her body.

“Come here, Aer.”

 Louis firmly grasped the staggering Aer. He wrapped his entire body around her to prevent even a single drop of the filthy magical beasts’ blood from splashing on her.

 The more contact area increased, the more strongly Aer’s energy flowed into Louis. As this happened, his ability became overwhelmingly powerful and its range expanded.

Around the two, magical beasts were tearing at each other or destroying their own bodies with their hands. Some were torn to shreds and disappeared in the typhoon-like wind.

 Other Awakened ones watched this scene with shocked expressions. Especially Professor Javier, who couldn’t even think about saving the students, had frozen like a statue.

Not only the Academy’s headmaster but many Awakened ones were interested in the first Emperor, the founder of the Basium Empire.

 Professor Javier was one of them. He was particularly interested in the existence of Transcendents.

Currently, Awakened ones were more revered than Healers. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Healers existed for the Awakened ones, but Transcendents were beings that surpassed even the Awakened ones.

“…No way, it can’t be.”

 The known ability of Transcendents is empathy with animals. Nicely packaged as empathy, it meant controlling their brains. The mental system, which hadn’t appeared in any Awakened one, is only born with Transcendents.

“How can this be possible?”

 Hearing Professor Javier’s muttering, the assistants looked at the devastated magical beasts with fearful eyes and tense expressions.

“…We can’t just stand by and watch!”

 No one dared to approach. Even Ian couldn’t carelessly use his ability. His whole body had frozen at this marvelous, no, cruel yet pure ability.

Belatedly coming to their senses, the Awakened students and Professor Javier cleared away the remains of the magical beasts and dug inwards. Towards where Louis and Aer were.

At that moment, Aer noticed Louis’s true identity. There was no way an ordinary person could freely absorb the energy of a Healer like herself.

“…You, you!”

Anger welled up at the thought of being deceived, but then she remembered that she too was hiding the fact that she was a Healer. They were both hiding their most important truths from each other.

Aer finally realized that her relationship with Louis had gone wrong. They had confessed and started dating while hiding their most fundamental truths. They had said they liked each other but never said they loved each other.

Hadn’t she too, deep down, thought it was fortunate that he was an ordinary person? Because she disliked the twisted nature unique to Awakened ones. Hadn’t she seen her Awakened father persistently craving love from Healers up close?

That’s why Aer hated the obsession Awakened ones had for Healers. It wasn’t just dislike, it was close to abhorrence. Obsession wasn’t a pure emotion, but a twisted one that not only tormented the loved one but also those around them.

Aer stared at him with distorted eyes, their fingers tightly interlocked without a gap. Even though he couldn’t read her thoughts, Louis somehow felt he knew what she was feeling right now. The denial she openly expressed in her expression was not something he could handle.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

 “Why, why…”

 She couldn’t ask if he had deceived her.

 A thread-thin belief remained, preventing her from questioning him. As they just stared at each other, unable to say anything, Professor Javier approached.

Being of the wind element, he cleared away the magical beast corpses around them. Unable to clear them in one go, he had to blow them away several times before speaking.

“You two, it seems like you have something urgent to discuss.” “…Yes.”

 “….”

Aer needed time to organize her thoughts. Although she felt betrayed that Louis was an Awakened one, it was still him, no one else. A part of her mind insisted that she needed to hear his circumstances. So she needed time. To clear up misunderstandings while keeping some distance.

Aer tried to let go of the hand that she was holding.

However, Louis had different thoughts. Feeling anxious that if he let go of her hand now, he might never see her again, he roughly grabbed her slender waist. Louis, having lost control, glared fiercely at Professor Javier with raised eyes. Not only that but also at the assistants and other Awakened ones who appeared behind the professor. Finally, upon seeing Ian and Kai, Louis’s lips twisted involuntarily.

Shameless ones coming to steal his mate. He wanted to slaughter them all. Starting with Professor Javier. He, who had maintained eye contact with Louis the longest, began to show strange behavior. And the lower-ranked Awakened ones began to waver. They started scratching their arms as if self-harming and attacking each other with their abilities. The Healers and ordinary people nearby, seeing the strange behavior of the Awakened ones, all became frightened and backed away.

Aer shouted at Louis who was restraining her.

 “Is this your doing?”

“…Aer.”

“Stop it right now! What on earth are you doing!”

The blood of magical beasts was frightening, but human blood was even more terrifying. The more Aer struggled, the more powerfully Louis exerted his ability. As he tried to manipulate even human memories, Louis’s body couldn’t withstand it.

“Cough.”

 Blood darker than his lips, which Aer had always thought beautiful, gushed out from between them. Dark red blood dripped onto her snow-white face right next to him.

Feeling a hot and strange sensation, Aer’s lips trembled as she forced words out of her throat.

 “Lo-Louis?”

 “Ugh, cough!”

 As if the blood inside his body was trying to escape, Louis kept coughing up blood. Even the blood flowing from his nose was frightening enough.

The more Louis coughed up blood, the weaker his power became. Eventually, everyone came to their senses and, shocked by their own actions, slumped down where they were. Ian and Kai had been watching the entire scene unfold. An ability to manipulate minds. This was impossible.

The assistants rushed in to restrain Louis and separate Aer. They believed that she had played a part in Louis’s display of such tremendous power.

“Ugh!”

 When one of the physical assistants pulled her, the pain was immense. As Aer let out a groan, Kai quickly approached to support her.

 “Aer, are you alright?”

Ian also approached as if entranced and grabbed her arm. Due to the earlier magic tool, Ian’s hand touched her smooth skin through the torn shirt.

“Hah!”

Ian’s eyes widened at the indescribably ecstatic sensation. His vision seemed to darken, then burst into colorful fireworks. Only after the tingling sensation swept through his body and disappeared could he come to his senses.

He couldn’t help but recognize that what Aer was exuding was healing power. However, Ian knew that it was more powerful and pure than any healing power he had ever received before.

“Catch him!”

“We must restrain him!”

“Anyone who attacks an ally is subject to immediate execution!” The assistants shouted after capturing Louis. Professor Javier, who had been manipulated by his ability, belatedly stopped the assistants.

 “We can’t decide this. If the situation has escalated to this point, the headmaster must make the decision.”

At the professor’s weighty words, the assistants who had been forcefully handling Louis backed off. Only then could Louis barely lift his head. Even in his disoriented state, he was too anxious about Aer not being by his side to lose consciousness.

“…er. Aer!”

 They had only just taken one step closer. But they couldn’t be separated like this. Louis shouted and reached out his hand.

Aer almost grabbed his hand without realizing it. That is, if someone hadn’t stopped her hand as it moved forward. Ian, not understanding why his own arm had moved, looked at it with a puzzled expression before turning to her. Aer, though filled with fear, couldn’t take her eyes off Louis.

Her face, full of lingering attachment, was something he had seen before.

 [I, I like you! Young Duke Raymond…]

 It was as if he heard an auditory hallucination. Ian’s pupils trembled slightly.

Aer felt her heart drop at the sight of Louis covered in blood. His deception didn’t matter anymore. The fact that he was an Awakened one was still hard to believe, but she hadn’t wanted to see him in such a miserable state.

“Ah…”

 It was painful to helplessly watch the only person who had stood by her side when everyone else was pointing fingers at her. Yet she hated herself for still feeling betrayed by him. Her mind was in complete disarray.

She, who had only been imagining a hopeful future, closed her eyes, unable to accept the current situation. As Aer went limp, losing strength, Kai lifted her into his arms. Ian, who had suddenly lost hold of her arm, glared at Kai with an unpleasant expression. Kai looked down at Aer in his arms for a moment and unknowingly raised the corners of his mouth.

Ironically, those who were marginalized in this chaotic scene were the Healers who had been helping them. The Healers were blinded by anxiety and jealousy. Among them, the person with the most bizarre expression was Anna.

The expression of the instigator, no, the mastermind behind this incident, was unreadable, but anyone could see that this wasn’t the outcome she had wanted.